This invention relates in general to musical percussion instruments, and more particularly to drumsticks for playing percussion instruments.
Drumsticks typically include a butt end, a striking end, and an intermediate region located in between the butt end and the striking end along the length of the body of the drumstick. The intermediate region generally includes a balance point (fulcrum) about which the drumstick pivots when the tip or striking point of the drumstick rebounds from contact with a drum skin (i.e. a head).
The drumstick is generally held at or near the balance point during use, since gripping the stick at this point enables maximum motion of the stick as it strikes and then rebounds from the surface of a drum or other percussion device. When held too tightly there is too much friction, and the player inhibits the motion (rebound) of the drumstick. In order to properly train students learning to play percussion instruments, such as, for instance, a snare drum, it is helpful not only to aid the student in grasping the stick at the balance point, but to encourage gripping of the stick in the proper manner. The latter is of particular importance in learning a technique in which the stick is effectively hinged between the thumb and forefinger of the user's hand, and the last three fingers of the hand controlling the rate of movement of the stick are located underneath the drumstick to control the speed of motion.
Drumsticks have been devised which attempt to minimize friction which slows down the motion (rebound) of the drumstick, for example, by isolating of the body of the drumstick from the fingers with some resilient material which can be gripped with firmness and which will not completely inhibit free motion of the drumstick. Another approach has been to provide some form of locator at the balance point. However, such designs do not establish freedom from restraint in pivotal movement as the stick rebounds from the drum. Moreover, they do not facilitate grasping and control of the drumstick at the balance point, especially for the student learning the fingertip control method of playing drums.
The aforementioned problem relates generally to drumming but may be particularly relevant depending on how a user wishes to use a drumstick, particularly with respect to one or more drumming styles. In drumming, the traditional grip (also called rudimental) style is typically used for the left hand (i.e., where a portion of the left hand is positioned substantially under the drumstick). The right hand may stay on top of the other corresponding drumstick as in the matched grip. Historically, such a drumming style developed during times of war because, when soldiers were marching into battle, the drum would be slung over the shoulder of the drummer and would rest on the left leg of the drummer. Such a configuration caused the drum to tilt at an angle whereby having the left hand on top of the stick (like the right hand for the other corresponding drumstick) would cause the drummer's elbow to stick out in the air and cause fatigue. The solution was to hold the stick in the left hand underneath the stick such that the drumstick would rest in the drummer's hand between the thumb and the third and fourth fingers of the left hand. This traditional grip is still used today in marching drumming in Jazz drumming.
Thus, it is a problem in the art that prior approaches to providing unrestrained pivotal motion of the drumstick do not also enable a user to exercise sufficient control over the drumstick.